Welcome to the family tree of the Kirtland and Fenton families.  This tree is work in progress and 
my email address is not monitored. 
 
The Fenton side of the tree was researched by my sister Diane.
You can email her by pressing the link on her name or go to her tree and ask for an invite.  
Fenton & Essex-Clark Family

The Kirtland and Boatwright side of the family was researched by the late Graeme Anthony Kirtland.   As time permits we will endeavor to add more information and extend the research.  For the time  being any enquiries should be directed to Diane on the link above.

KIRTLAND - What does this surname mean?
 This interesting name, with variant spellings Kirtland and Kirtlan, derives from the Northern  Medieval English "Kirk" meaning church, plus "land", land, and was originally given either as a  topographical name to someone resident on land belonging to the church, or as a locational name  from any of the several places named with the above elements, for example, Kirkland in Cumberland,  Ayrshire, Dumfrieshire, Lanarkshire etc.. Exceptionally, Kirkland in Lancashire has, as its second  element the Old Norse "lund", a grove.

The surname was first recorded in the late 12th Century. Other early recordings include, John de  Kyrkeland who held land in the territory of Gordon circa 1280, "Register of the Abbey of Kelso"  Scotland, and William de Kyrkland, burgess of Glasgow, (1424). An interesting namebearer was Thomas  Kirkland, (1722-1798), M.D. St. Andrews, and member of the royal medical societies of Edinburgh and  London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Michael de Kerkeland,  which was dated 1196, in the "Pipe Rolls of Cumberland", during the reign of King Richard 1, known  as "Richard the Lionheart", 1189 - 1199. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced  personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in  every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original  spelling.